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World’s first treaty to ban fossil fuels on the table

Jul. 15, 2016

Pacific island nations may ratify the world’s first treaty that would ban or phase out fossil fuels, The Guardian reports. Following this week’s Pacific Islands Development Forum, 14 countries, including Fiji and the Solomon Islands, have agreed to consider the treaty, which would require participating nations to ban any new coal or fossil fuel mines and provide “universal access” to clean energy by 2030. The agreement would also establish a fund to compensate communities suffering from climate change–related losses. The Pacific Island Climate Action Network, the coalition of nongovernmental organizations that wrote the model treaty, called the treaty a chance to act “not as victims of climate change but as agents of change.”